Imagination
by HecateA
Summary: A new kind of horrible when it comes to demigod dreams. Oneshot. Written for the PJO ship weeks.


**Three cheers for the Percy Jackson Ship Weeks!**

July 14-20- Thalia and Luke (Keeping it PG)

July 21-27- Beckendorf and Silena (The Girl in the Attic)

July 28- August 3- Grover and Juniper (The Track of Time)

August 4-10- Chris and Clarisse (Scraps)

August 11-17 Tyson and Ella (Skywards)

August 18-24- Frank and Hazel (Correspondence)

August 25-31- Leo and Hazel (The Toy Factory)

September 1-7- Leo and Reyna (oops... pending)

September 8-14- Jason and Reyna (French, Grecian and Dutch)

September 15-21- Jason and Piper (Solid Gold)

September 22-28- Free Ship! (The Boy and The Legend)

September 28- October 7- Percy and Annabeth (ta-dah!)

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters shown below.**

* * *

**Imagination**

* * *

If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it.

**-William Arthur Ward**

* * *

He poked his fingers through the hole in her sweater.

"Stop it," she said smacking his hand away. "I'm _busy." _

A quick gesture to the piles of books and old homework assignments behind her, as well as the exhausted and alarmingly loud humming of Daedalus' laptop, served as witness.

"There's a hole in your sweater," he said sticking his fingers in again and tickling her wrist.

"I know," Annabeth said.

"You should get a new one. Or get my Mom to fix it."

"But in the meantime I don't have another and it's cold outside."

Percy pulled her from her books and onto his lap.

"I could keep you warm instead," he offered.

"Dork," she said. However she didn't disagree with him…

* * *

"What if the meaning of the universe really is just finding the meaning of the universe?" Percy said.

"You've simply created a paradox," Annabeth replied.

She hadn't lifted her nose from her book all afternoon, even though their trips at camp nowadays were rarer and rarer. They were so busy and alive elsewhere in the world now... it was a weird feeling. He'd tried being annoying, being stupid to the point of intolerance, to steal her stuff… this new strategy was something that he liked to call 'Faking Enlightenment 101'.

"But what if asking the question isn't enough? What if you have to be sure?" Percy asked. They were staring out into the lake, she a little behind him. A bunch of campers were waddling around, talking to some nymphs.

"Well, convince yourself and let me know how it goes." Annabeth said dabbing her finger onto her tongue and turning the page.

"But what if…"

He was pulled backwards. He toppled and his head fell in Annabeth's lap. She was leaning over him, an annoyed expression bordering a smile on her face. Some curls were hanging around her face, out of her bun.

"You are so annoying," she said leaning down to kiss him. "I said one more chapter didn't I?"

"You said that two chapters ago."

"No, it was one really long chapter."

"Liar."

"If you want."

"Wait- I can have what I want?" Percy said.

She punched his shoulder.

* * *

He could feel frustration radiating off of her and so he kissed her foot before getting up.

"I feel like a child," Annabeth complained.

"You aren't," Percy promised.

"I can't even put my own socks on," Annabeth scoffed. "I can barely walk, I can't fit into anything, I…"

Percy kissed her to shut her up. It'd proven a very effective win-win situation.

"You're not a child, you're _with _child," he said putting an arm around her and a hand on her baby bump. Her hands slid over his and under her belly.

"Technically it's a baby until it turns…"

He kissed her to shut her up.

No.

It was a kid.

* * *

Annabeth's hands were either holding her paperback open or holding up her hair, piles up at the top of her head.

"Wanna drive for a bit?"

"I'm good," she said.

"You were bugging me, like, ten minutes ago," Percy said.

Her feet were propped on the dashboard. She'd slipped her sandals off; her toenails were green and blue. Sunglasses were propped on her forehead. She was munching on cashews or MnM's, whichever one of their road trip snacks was presently sitting on the car console.

"Yes, but now I'm at my book's climax," she said.

"Your book's..?"

"Turns out, it isn't half bad after all," Annabeth said. "So you can keep driving."

Percy sighed. "You're impossible."

"No, I'm very logical. Good book, read. Bad book, do something else. Options are limited in a car."

"Are they?" Percy asked. He pulled over as she answered.

"Yes, I…"

"Funny, because I can think of a few things…" Percy said.

"Is your head in the gutter, perhaps?" Annabeth asked. She'd untied her seatbelt, though… and taken her sunglasses off. Her curls tumbled down her back.

"Not the gutter," Percy said leaning in for a kiss. "It's got better places to be."

Turns out, she _had _been eating MnM's.

* * *

He pulled himself on the harbour's railing as she talked because he had a feeling that her rant on the lack of critical analysis opportunities in her English class wouldn't be a short one. He was right, and ten minutes later she finally sighed.

"I hate it," she said. "I don't _see _the SparkNotes answers that are written in the class plan."

"It's not a child-of-Athena thing to see what's in plain sight," Percy agreed. Maybe he _was _fishing.

"Exactly!" She said relieved. It turned back to misery pretty quickly. "I'm getting the worst grades of my life."

"Sorry," Percy said. He hooked his ankles around the railing so that his hands were free to offer a hug. Annabeth's arms wrapped around his waist and she buried her face against his stomach.

"Your hoody's warm," she said after a while.

Percy gave it to her to walk home with.

* * *

The two little girls halted when he whistled. He lived in a constant state of confusion about whether or not they looked like sisters or not. One with fair hair, the other with ink black curls. Both of them had eyes that caught the light and coloured themselves in consequence. Tall and short, big or almond shaped eyes, long or short button nose, perfectly straight or gapy teeth. But somehow... well, maybe Percy was used to seeing them sleeping in the same room or blowing out candles on the same birthday cake, but they _looked _like sisters to him.

"Wait up, you two," he called.

"You're being slow!" Alex huffed, blowing a piece of hair out of her face.

"It's not our fault," Sandi said twirling a curl around her finger, ganging up with her sister against them. They made a beautiful little pair.

"Not ours either that you have such quick feet," Annabeth said.

"Not our faults that you're old!" Alex sassed right back.

They exchanged a single look before mutually agreeing to sprint down the beach, each after one of the girls. They kicked up sands and generally made lots of noise- or rather the girls did. They were content with simply laughing as they gave chase.

* * *

He really, really didn't want to see her when he walked out of school.

So he tried to pretend that he hadn't, just stroll right past her. Of course it didn't work. His buddies pointed her out and she wasn't easy to lose in the crowd, especially since she was the only one in the mass not wearing a Goode uniform.

When she caught him he couldn't say no to her as she dragged him to the edge of the sidewalk, mostly out of everybody's way.

"I'm sorry," she said immediately. "That one was my fault. I shouldn't have talked to you that way."

Percy's only answer would have been 'yeah, it was' and so he shut up.

"The thing is…" She looked desperate not to say what she was about to divulge. She backed into one of the big trees that grew in front of the school. "Reyna and I… we _get _each other. I really like her, she's one of my best friends. I really, really wasn't happy about not being told that she'd gotten hurt, even if I was in just as bad shape."

She still had an ugly bruise on the side of her face.

"I'm used to being on my own, even after all this time," Annabeth said. "It's weird, it shouldn't be that way, but it is. I've just got to get used to the fact that I've got a Seaweed Brain who multitasks as the knight in shining armour striving to protect me."

Percy didn't say anything. She was picking at the tree's bark now, the silence uncomfortable for them all. Percy wanted to break it, but... He couldn't manage it.

"I have a subway to catch," she said to break the silence. "I should go, I don't want to be…"

"No," Percy said. "Subway only comes around in ten minutes. It's Wednesday. You're coming home for supper, right?"

Relief melted her features into submission and raised her lips into a smile.

* * *

They could have stayed out for hours. The grass was long at this time of the year, and it wasn't like anyone would check The Fields of Mars for them.

And they did stay out for hours, laying down under the Californian sun and talking endlessly and despite dry mouths, laying on their sides and smiling at each other, taking turns to prop themselves up on one another...

Hours.

* * *

Mom had pulled the bed sheets off of him so that he didn't get twisted in them as he thrashed. It was a weird thing to be thankful for, but Percy's dreams were getting weirder and weirder- which didn't stop them from being _super _terrifying.

"You okay?" She asked quietly, running a hand through his hair.

"Think so," he said. He was shivering, so Mom sat down and held him for a bit- as if he was a baby, waking up every few hours anyways. That's what their sleep patterns looked like anyways.

"Can I call Annabeth?" Percy asked.

Mom made Paul bring the phone over, kissed him on the hair and left. She closed the door behind herself.

"Hello?" Annabeth asked. She sounded wide awake.

"It's me."

"I know, I have caller ID," Annabeth said.

"Are you busy?"

"It's ten after midnight," she said. "Not really. What happened Seaweed Brain? Nightmare?"

"About Tartarus," he said.

"Same," she said.

"I dreamed that I hadn't caught you before you fell," Percy said. Saying it out loud made it even _more _terrifying. He started crying right there, right then on the phone. "I'm sorry."

"Percy, in my _best _dreams you didn't fall," Annabeth said. "You stayed with the other, you stayed safe."

"That's my nightmare," Percy sobbed. "Being safe when you're not. Forget being scared of flying or drowning- _that's _terrifying."

"It shouldn't be," Annabeth said. "You know I'd have come back to you."

"You say that, but you can't always do what you want. Especially... in a place like Tartarus..."

"I'd have been okay. I'd have found a way," Annabeth said. "Just like you found a way to stick to me like Velcro some more."

Percy laughed a bit.

The next morning, when he woke up, the phone was still on. He could hear Annabeth breathing. Their conversation had lasted eight hours and forty-five minutes (Mom hadn't woken him up for school apparently). He didn't know for how much of that he'd slept, but he felt way better.

And oh look.

No nightmares.

* * *

Her pencil tapped onto his notebook. "And so x is equal to..?"

"Square root of 36?" He guesstimated. To be honest, he'd spent more time focusing on how close she was than on the actual tutoring going on, lying flat on their stomachs on his bed.

"Right on," she said poking his nose with her pencil's end before dropping it. "You're getting it."

"Only thanks to my excellent teacher," Percy said.

"You have an excellent teacher?"

"Mmm-hmm," Percy said putting his arms around her waist. He pulled her onto him as he rolled onto his back. "The best."

"The best- now there's a title," Annabeth said.

"She deserves it," Percy said, his hands on her waist, rubbing slow circles.

"Does she now?"

"Yeah. I'll have to introduce her to you one day."

"One day," Annabeth agreed. "Not now. You're busy."

She leaned down and kissed him.

* * *

She taped yet another paint chip to the wall, backed up, and clucked her tongue after examining the options.

"I still don't like it," she said. "Just… making this room orange? Doesn't work."

"Why?" Percy asked. "I think it's cute."

"It is, but…" Annabeth gnawed on her lip. "Orange is a camp colour. Camp means that you're growing up, that you can be put into any kind of mess at any time. That's not what I want, at least not right now. Any other colour, a colour that doesn't mean that, for the baby…"

Percy wrapped his arms around her.

"You're already worrying about that?" He asked.

"You're telling me that you're not, Mr Insomniac?"

"No," Percy said.

"Well there," Annabeth said defensively.

Percy's hands slipped above her belly. It was weird how it'd changed after years of familiarity in their touches. But… not in a bad way. Percy liked it, scary and intimidating as it was.

"We're going to be okay, you know," Percy said. "We'll make this work. Kid won't know about monsters or anything like that until he's ready. I promise. Against all odds, against this, against that…"

"I know," Annabeth said leaning her head back against him.

"Good," Percy said kissing her forehead.

* * *

They were both wrapped in towels and shivering anyways. The rain really had caught them by surprise- it was supposed to be a sunny weekend and so they'd gone for a walk down Montauk before even taking their suitcases out of the car or settling in. Their jeans and shirts had been soaked and heavy in seconds, and the run back to the cottage had taken forever.

"You know what the best thing to get warm is?" Percy said from his spot on the couch.

"I'm a child of Athena," Annabeth said. She got up, her hair dripping on the floor as she came to him and sat on his lap. "Of course I do."

And so they spooned.

* * *

He felt like crying. He honestly did and he didn't know why because he wasn't tired, scared, threatened or sad. He was actually at his happiest.

It was probably something about seeing Annabeth in a dress, that was all. Or maybe about that dress being white with glitter on the straps and whatever other fun feature the daughter of Aphrodite had enumerated. Or maybe about the way that her eyes glittered like she was going to cry too.

What was _she_ bawling about?

"You look fantastic in a suit, okay?" She said defensively, resting her head against his chest as the music slowed again, by the power invested (by them) in a hormonal DJ (Will Solace) who couldn't invest himself in a particular genre. He kissed her head, aiming for hair as opposed to the veil.

"You look beautiful in a dress."

"You look handsome in a tie."

"You look gorgeous with that veil."

"You look stunning with that jacket."

"You look radiant with that ring."

"Why thank you, a very handsome man picked it out for me. He looks fantastic in a suit," Annabeth said.

* * *

**If You Can Dream It...**

Percy woke up with a start, his voice raw as if he'd just screamed.

Mom stood nearby.

"Are you okay?" She asked quietly once she noticed his stirring.

"Yeah," he said. "Yeah Mom, I… I am."

"Nightmare?"

"Dream," he said. "I know it's late but can I call Annabeth about them?"

Mom stood frozen.

"Darling..." Mom said softly.

"It's not like anyone's on the phone, right?"

"Percy," Mom said. "Percy, you can't... call. You can't, sweetheart."

It was like he finally woke up from the dreams. His face fell.

"I…" He shook his head. "I'm so… I'm so sorry…"

He burst into tears. He hated when he did that. Hated, hated, hated. Hated asking for her, hated seeing something and taking a picture on his cellphone or making a mental note to tell her, hated how people had to constantly manage him and his waterworks, hated seeing girls with blonde hair or grey eyes and doing a double-take, hated lots of things including the crying, but hated –above all- the way that he dreamed.

"She was just so alive in my dreams," Percy managed to say after a while of Mom rubbing his back.

"I know," Mom said. "I know sweetheart. But they _are _dreams. Dreams only work if they fit in reality."


End file.
